Question:
Are leaks common after a laparoscopy RNY?

   — [Anonymous] (posted on August 28, 2001)

August 28, 2001
I dont know how common they are, but my doctor prefers to do OPEN RNY(which is what I had 4.5 weeks ago). The main reason he prefers open to lap is that he can thoroughly check for leaks before he closes the incision. I did not even have to go through that nasty leak test that I read about.
   — barbpatter

August 28, 2001
My doctor is a laparoscopic/videoscopic specialist. Even so, he only does this surgery lap under very tight conditions. He spoke at length about lap versus open at our July support group meeting. He said the most important reason in MOST surgeries that developed a lap process was to shorten the time a person stayed under anesthesia. It was his opinion that this particular surgery DID NOT make the transition from open to lap as well as others have done. In fact, in his experience, lap almost always takes longer than an open. While he did not say that leaks occur more oftn lap, he did say he was far more concerned about leaks when he did the surgery lap rather than when he had done it open. He felt that the preference toward lap was because of the "supposed" shorter recuperation period. As a hoot, we did a poll among all the post ops present at that meeting and guess what! In every single case, those that had the surgery open went back to work sooner than those who had it lap. Obviously this is not a "study" of any kind, but I found it interesting to say the least. As a matter of fact, after that particular support group meeting I decided to ask him to do it open instead. And I met his qualifications for lap. I am 11 days post op right now. Today I went back to work (I am an office manager) for 4 hours and I feel great! I didn't have to have a leak test (he did several before closing me) and am not sorry that I decided to go with open. One difference between my doctor's incision and other doc's, however, is that my doc does his horizontal - from the breastbone to a point closer to my left side. Mine is 7.5" long. He feels he has better access to our stomach that way and also feels that healing time is accelerated because he is not cutting up and down through muscle. Whatever his reasons, I'm happy.
   — Pamela F.

August 28, 2001
I had a lap RNY and had no problem with leaks. I did have to do a leak test, but my doctor requires that ALL RNY patients have one. Actually, I was so thirsty that I was almost relieved when they gave me the barium drink! I was under for 4 1/2 hours opposed to a usual 1 1/2 for the open, but I feel like that was the best option for me. I had no comorbids and was "only" 100 pounds overweight. I went back to work full time at 10 days and was uncomfortable sitting all day for the first 2. After that, I felt wonderful. I am hoping that when my scars fade they will be barely noticable. But I figure that if I can't wear a bikini, SO WHAT! It's not like I could have worn one before . . .
   — ctyst

August 29, 2001
My lap RNY took 1 hour and 15 minutes, I had surgery on a tues. evening and went home thur. I took pain meds friday morning then needed them no more. I was tested for leaks before surgery ended and that was that, all has been fine since. I have not seen any objective facts that there are more leaks with lap. Some surgeons don't want to do it because they are not yet real efficient at it, and they are more comfortable with open (not at all a bad thing, they should do what they are most competent at). Both open and lap are good surgeries, go with what your surgeon does best and don't worry, the grass isn't necessarily greener on the the other side.
   — blank first name B.

August 29, 2001
I don't pretend to know what the percentages of leaks are with either surgery, but I do have to say that from my experience, I don't think that leaks are any more common with Lap than open. My surgeon is an expert at Lap RNY. He only does Lap, unless there is some reason to do an open, like too many adhesions or something like that. He uses methyline blue to test for leaks before closing, AND does a barium leak test a day and a half later, just to be safe. I have met a ton of his patients at the support group meetings and I can honestly say, I haven't heard of one leak. Go with what your surgeon does BEST. If he said he prefers open, then go with open. I chose my surgeon specifically because his *specialty* was Lap.
   — Maria H.

August 30, 2001
I also don't pretend to know what the percentage is for leaks with lap, but I will say this. My surgeon has been doing WLS for over 25 years & has done them thousands of times. He has taken the lap courses but still refuses to do the lap RNY because he just does not think that it is as safe as the open, whether it be short term or long term. No one has been able to convince him differently. I do qualify for the lap since I am have a BMI of 40 & even thought about going to a surgeon who would perform the lap but after meeting and talking in depth to my surgeon about the fears of lap versus RNY, I will definitely be having the open RNY.
   — [Anonymous]